The Ragamuffin Children Report in From The Otherside of the World
19.06.08 - Received from the Ragamuffin Children
Hello everyone,
We hope you will enjoy reading our very first newsletter!
We've been in Europe now for a couple of weeks, and have played four shows around London.
It has been an interesting experience so far. Underground trains can be quite awful, especially carrying Brooke's Keyboard and other instruments...and when you get lost.
We have become very fond of vegetarian buffets which are only 3 pound 95, hunting for foxes and squirrels in parks and peoples gardens, 3d movies at IMAX (the biggest screen in Britain-you get welcomed personally by a member of the movie staff, then introduced to the 12,000 watt surround sound system).
Anita and Ben went to Greenwich and Anita purchased an antique compass in a wooden box to combat direction problems.
Last week we went for a little holiday to Ireland, we went to see Radiohead at Malahide Castle near Dublin, and then hired a car to drive halfway around the country.
We found Irish radio to be very dry and boring. But we met lots of nice and interesting locals including a 4th generation farmer called Timothy who had the largest stone circle in Ireland on his land.
We have become quite fond of the game Yahtzee, possibly due to the long amounts of time we have spent waiting for aeroplanes and things.
It seemed to be quite hard to find Vegan food for Brooke-indian food was our saviour.
Here is a recipe though....of a traditional Irish bread
IRISH SODA BREAD
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 cups raisins
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" round cake pan with solid shortening and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tablespoon), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and sour cream and beat until smooth. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 times. The dough will be sticky.
Place the dough in the prepared pan and pat down. Cut a 4x3/4" deep slash in the top of the bread and dust with reserved flour. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 65 to 75 minutes; remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.
CONCERTS
The shows we played were a real eye opener for us, it is really like starting right from the beginning coming to a new country, because no-one knows who we are. It has been nice though, as people have liked our music, which has been quite a relief!
This week on June 19th we will be playing at another acoustic showcase at a place called The Ballroom.
It is put on by a promoter called 'Behind the mic'..hopefully it shall go well, the venue sounds like it will be very nice.
If you know anyone living in London let them know we are playing so they can come along!
MUSIC NEWS
It turns out that we have been granted funding from Creative New Zealand to help record our next album. We are very excited, and have big plans for string players, vibraphones, real pianos, nice harmonies and spectacularness!
We will be recording it at The Surgery in Wellington with Lee Prebble..
Most of the songs have been written already, and they will include 'Seahorses', and a very old song called 'Snakes'. There might be a few surprises too....
We hope to record some demo's of the songs and string parts while we are in France, as we are staying at a place with a recording studio while we are there, and with some puppet makers!...
Hehe.
Also,
We have a website that is in the final stages of completion, we will let you know when it is up
HELP
We would like to meet people who can help us with music related things while we are in Europe, so if you know anyone who runs music websites, puts on shows, is friends with famous bands, will take us on tour, release our album or give us some money, or food to eat then please let us know!
Every little morsel of information or help is most appreciated, otherwise we fear we will be swallowed up by the big evil city that is London.
POEM
Don't expect this to be good..haha.But here is a poem I am going to make up right this moment.
I wiggle my toes,
and off one goes.
Runs down the path
with a dash and a laugh
SNEAKY TOE!come back here.
Or I shall chase you down for a day,
or a year.
Under the shrubs with the gnomes and the grubs,
over the megalithic hills, past foxes and city malls.
Into the neolithic sea, through flowers and trees.
Until you slow down,dig you toenail in the ground.
I wiggle my toes.
I wiggle my toes.
By Brooke (excluding 'megalithic' and 'neolithic' taken from Ireland's historical signage)
Hello everyone,
We hope you will enjoy reading our very first newsletter!
We've been in Europe now for a couple of weeks, and have played four shows around London.
It has been an interesting experience so far. Underground trains can be quite awful, especially carrying Brooke's Keyboard and other instruments...and when you get lost.
We have become very fond of vegetarian buffets which are only 3 pound 95, hunting for foxes and squirrels in parks and peoples gardens, 3d movies at IMAX (the biggest screen in Britain-you get welcomed personally by a member of the movie staff, then introduced to the 12,000 watt surround sound system).
Anita and Ben went to Greenwich and Anita purchased an antique compass in a wooden box to combat direction problems.
Last week we went for a little holiday to Ireland, we went to see Radiohead at Malahide Castle near Dublin, and then hired a car to drive halfway around the country.
We found Irish radio to be very dry and boring. But we met lots of nice and interesting locals including a 4th generation farmer called Timothy who had the largest stone circle in Ireland on his land.
We have become quite fond of the game Yahtzee, possibly due to the long amounts of time we have spent waiting for aeroplanes and things.
It seemed to be quite hard to find Vegan food for Brooke-indian food was our saviour.
Here is a recipe though....of a traditional Irish bread
IRISH SODA BREAD
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 cups raisins
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" round cake pan with solid shortening and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tablespoon), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and sour cream and beat until smooth. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 times. The dough will be sticky.
Place the dough in the prepared pan and pat down. Cut a 4x3/4" deep slash in the top of the bread and dust with reserved flour. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 65 to 75 minutes; remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.
CONCERTS
The shows we played were a real eye opener for us, it is really like starting right from the beginning coming to a new country, because no-one knows who we are. It has been nice though, as people have liked our music, which has been quite a relief!
This week on June 19th we will be playing at another acoustic showcase at a place called The Ballroom.
It is put on by a promoter called 'Behind the mic'..hopefully it shall go well, the venue sounds like it will be very nice.
If you know anyone living in London let them know we are playing so they can come along!
MUSIC NEWS
It turns out that we have been granted funding from Creative New Zealand to help record our next album. We are very excited, and have big plans for string players, vibraphones, real pianos, nice harmonies and spectacularness!
We will be recording it at The Surgery in Wellington with Lee Prebble..
Most of the songs have been written already, and they will include 'Seahorses', and a very old song called 'Snakes'. There might be a few surprises too....
We hope to record some demo's of the songs and string parts while we are in France, as we are staying at a place with a recording studio while we are there, and with some puppet makers!...
Hehe.
Also,
We have a website that is in the final stages of completion, we will let you know when it is up
HELP
We would like to meet people who can help us with music related things while we are in Europe, so if you know anyone who runs music websites, puts on shows, is friends with famous bands, will take us on tour, release our album or give us some money, or food to eat then please let us know!
Every little morsel of information or help is most appreciated, otherwise we fear we will be swallowed up by the big evil city that is London.
POEM
Don't expect this to be good..haha.But here is a poem I am going to make up right this moment.
I wiggle my toes,
and off one goes.
Runs down the path
with a dash and a laugh
SNEAKY TOE!come back here.
Or I shall chase you down for a day,
or a year.
Under the shrubs with the gnomes and the grubs,
over the megalithic hills, past foxes and city malls.
Into the neolithic sea, through flowers and trees.
Until you slow down,dig you toenail in the ground.
I wiggle my toes.
I wiggle my toes.
By Brooke (excluding 'megalithic' and 'neolithic' taken from Ireland's historical signage)
